Red Shadow
by Bookmarks
Summary: When Jarred Sol's family was murdered, he moved into a kids home, fifteen years old.  His parents were killed by two mad murderers, on the thirty first of July.  Well. That's the police report.  His true story is that of magic, and a creature Lord Loss.
1. Memories

My first fan fic, maybe some day, if I finish it off, and it's good enough, I'll edit some of the details, and call it my own story. Please, any comments, constructive criticism. Hope you enjoy.

1 - Memories

I wake to the sound of fire, still half asleep; I lie back, thinking I'm in a dream.

A loud bang, like a thunderclap, echoes around the house, pulling me from my half sleeping state. The floor shakes, my bed flipping over to one side harshly.

As it propels me off through the air, I wake fully, screeching slightly as I hit the wall.

A loud thump, I hit the floor, cursing under my breath. My senses come to. What the hell was that?

I leap off to my feet, glancing around once, before moving my hand to my bedside table, fallen on the floor, contents spilled out. I rummage through the mess. I pull out my small electric BB P90, loaded with several metal pellets, flicking it around my fingers once. I leap up, running to the door. I move through the hallway fast, following the sound of ripping and crackling of flames. In a flash, I kick to the door, snapping off the hinges, and leap into the room.

Hell. Blood spatters across the walls and floor, puddles of it on the carpet. A hand is sprawled out, poking from behind the bed. My eyes widen, a low moan escaping my lips as I spot the shredded remains of my parents, faces clawed apart, guts spewing across the floor. The hand looks like it belongs to my sister. But the corpses aren't what terrify me. It's what is by them, watching me carefully. I reel over, vomiting onto the floor. As I draw myself up, I aim my gun at the figures, firing off a volley of pellets. The electric mechanisms in the gun click, the metal balls flying out at a speed that would shatter bones. They slam into the figures, hitting the skin with a sickening thwack each time, and then rolling to the floor. My eyes adjust to the dark, and I squint to see my enemies… Bad idea.

I wake up, breathing heavily, drenched in sweat. I roll out of my bunk slowly, dropping to the floor lightly. Turning around in the room once, I gulp, looking over to Joe's bed. He's fast asleep; obviously my sleep talking wasn't too loud tonight. I tiptoe from the room, making for the small bathroom the home shares. In the hall, my eyes dart for the clock - Midnight. No one else is awake. I slide through the door, mot daring to move it - the creaky hinges would wake people in the next room up. The darkness scares me, more than my midnight flashbacks. Something could easily be hiding in them. Of course, I would feel it; I've been able to sense things around me easily since the night, as my stream of councillors would put it, 'incident' or 'mishap'.

I don't hide behind terms like that. My family were killed by monstrous demons. Of course, no one would believe me, and I eventually was forced to make up some bull crap murderers, twisted people. Not a total lie. I go about my business in the dark, and then slink to the living room, deciding I won't be able to sleep.

Later - sat watching cartoons. I can't focus on them. My dreams – no, my past, won't get out of my mind. I can't get the three 'faces' to go away. The two smaller ones weren't important to me. The one I had paid attention to had been the bigger one. The leader. All I can remember is the deep sense of sorrow he gave off, and the lumpy red skin, with the dark, red eyes. And the name. He had called himself Lord Loss…


	2. So It Begins

2 – So it begins

I chuckle slightly, looking across the table, to face Joe. Rolling my eyes, I say 'Yeah. I might be a lunatic, but I'd rather that than a bedwetting child.'

We all laugh slightly; everyone knows that Joe wet the bed until he was fifteen. Give him one more year, and he can leave this dump. He's lucky. I'm only fifteen now. Three years for me. After my parents were killed, I spent a short time in a loony bin. I wasn't the only one there who believed in demons. There was a guy called Grubbs. He was about the same age as me. That was last year. But I recovered faster than him, and within two weeks, I was sent out, having no other known family, to an orphanage. Great. It's not all bad though, the managers are nice, and they provide us with sweets and all that crap. Most of us in here had family killed around teen years. We help each other out. Joe was only twelve when his dad died. His mother had died giving birth, his grandparent's long gone – old age – and, like the rest of us, his uncle and aunts had either died or, on his mother's side, never existed.

Later - in my room. I'm trying to cut my hair in the mirror – it's looking too long at the moment. I stop to survey myself in the mirror quickly. In the past ten months, I've changed a lot. My hair is darker, now a shade of chestnut brown - Probably because I haven't been out much, meaning no sun. My eyes are lighter than they were when I first came, their deep green. When I left the 'Institute for the mentally damaged' they had huge bags under them, and they had looked empty, sad. My shoulders have broadened dramatically too. From looking like a stick bug, I now look like a wrestler. I snip off a last bit of my hair, happy with the style, and then pull from my desk.

Later - in the lounge, I'm sitting with Joe, Jess, Alex and Sophie. We're watching _2 And a half Men. _Jess randomly turns to face me and asks. 'What was it like in the nuthouse?' I raise an eyebrow at her slowly, and then shake my head. 'Bad. I was lucky though. Most people were in straight jackets, and locked in their rooms 24/7. I was apparently one of the fastest "healers" they'd ever seen'. She nods slowly, and I can't help but add 'Why. Going on holiday?' The others look at me stupidly for a second, and then catch on. Cue laughter. Jarred Sol – Entertainer to the mad.

Night. We're sitting in Jess' room, the biggest room in the home. Most people are too scared to dare go in there. She got it because she's "hard". The room's seen two suicides before. It was originally meant for four people. No one will sleep in there. There are seven of us, eating crisps and chocolate. We're watching some horror flick, crap about zombies. Only Jess, Alex and Darren are actually watching it. The rest of us are either lying back, half asleep, or joking. Me? I wouldn't dare go to sleep with all these people in here. I sleep talk. And I'm too coward to go to my room alone. I've just been lazing around, until a word catches my attention.

'Demons'.

I'm not sure who says it, or why, but I'm instantly alert, my head snapping up. I turn around to the direction it was from. Three people are huddled, murmuring quietly. I can only see Joe properly. I tune into their conversation.

'I'm serious.' I think that was Maria speaking. 'Wait – you're saying that demons really exist, and they live in a different universe?' Joe laughs. Maria scowls at him. 'I _know_. I saw them yesterday! I was in town, nine o'clock. There was some lumpy red thing floating down one of the empty streets, with a crocodile dog and a green kid following him!' More laughter. By now, all of the others are looking, after Joe's loud laugh. Everyone in the room is laughing – except for me, Maria and Sophie. Sophie's looking worried, and I'm staring gobsmacked at Maria, while she scowls around the room.

Later, the others have gone to sleep on the floor, I shuffle over to Maria. She's leaning against the wall, murmuring to herself. I look at her carefully, her not noticing me for a minute. She suddenly looks up, her eyes sparkling. She's crying.

'What. Come to laugh at me?' She snaps, looking away. I shake my head, sliding down to sit by her. 'I believe you.' She looks up, her eyes suspicious. She suspects some cruel joke. But when she see's I'm serious, she starts to talk.


End file.
